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Bank repossesses wrong house; owner wants $18K

Posted on 27th July 2013

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According to this story, a bank in Ohio repossessed the wrong house while the family were away. The family returned to the house to find that the locks had been changed and many of their belongings were missing.

Home-owner Katie Barnett wants the First National Bank of Wellston to give her $18,000 for the lost items, but she says the bank wants her to show receipts for everything that's missing; it seems that the bank doesn't believe her.

Time for a reality check, First National Bank of Wellston. $18K is a bargain for the bank. Take the deal while the offer is still on the table, because:

  1. Mrs. Barnett can argue that she had all the receipts, but the bank took them while clearing out the house.
  2. If the bank don't reach a deal, she can file criminal charges (which will cost them more than $18K, once legal costs and fines are paid).
  3. She can also file a civil suit for damages. Whatever she can make the court believe is the cost of the damage that the family suffered (loss of property, temporary impact on life-style, stress/peace-of-mind, etc.) will most likely be augmented by punitive damages (i.e. multiplied by 3 or 4 to discourage others from making the same mistake), plus, of course, legal costs again.
  4. There is the small matter of bad PR (which has already started with the various news articles - if I were a customer of the First National Bank of Wellston, I would be strongly considering "voting with my feet"), the financial impact of which could easily exceed $18K.

There is an expression which seems applicable here: "When you're in a hole, stop digging".